The UK will host the prestigious WorldSkills Competition in London in 2011, after beating Sweden and Australia in a vote at the organisation’s annual general meeting.

WorldSkills, held every two years, will take place in London from the 6 - 9 October 2011. The competition will be held in the ExCel exhibition centre in Docklands.

Chris Humphries, chairman of UK Skills, which pitched the UK’s bid, said: “For too long the vocational route has been seen as inferior to academic studies but succeeding in the skills sector takes just as much dedication.”

Last year’s competition was hosted in Helsinki and 700 young people from around the world took part.

The UK bid has had support from the Government, the Mayor of London, businesses and individuals. Sponsors pledged £11m, which the Government has said it will match-fund to cover the costs of hosting the event.

UK WorldSkills 2011 bid document sent to judging committee >>

Back WorldSkills bid >> 

WorldSkills 2005 >>

By Chris Druce

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